Li Yue had no intention of getting involved in Ichigo Kurosaki's everyday monster-hunting plot in the Human World, but once Ichigo Kurosaki entered Soul Society, he definitely wanted to join in for fun!
"No problem. I'll notify you in the group when the time comes."
Aizen did not mind Li Yue getting involved either, because he believed Li Yue understood boundaries. He might stir things up, but he would never affect his overall plan.
"Then."
Li Yue drew Enma's Blade once more.
"Separate the worlds!"
The Toy Salesman Who Loved Liyue Deeply
"Li Yue, where have you been these past few days?!"
"An Otherworld."
"Oh, an Oth... Wait, what did you say?! An Otherworld?!"
Inside Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, Hu Tao stared at Li Yue with wide eyes.
"Yeah. What's wrong with an Otherworld?"
Li Yue looked entirely matter-of-fact.
"Everyone knows. Zhongli knows, Nahida knows, and that Venti knew before too. Besides, I'm an Otherworlder myself, aren't I? That's perfectly normal, right?"
"Uh..."
Hu Tao was a little stunned. That did seem right. Li Yue himself was from an Otherworld, so being able to go to an Otherworld was perfectly norm...
"How could that possibly be normal?! You can just leave Teyvat and go to an Otherworld whenever you want?!"
"Yeah."
"And they all knew, but I was the only one who didn't! No, you have to take me along next time too!"
Though Hu Tao was usually busy burying people, she was still a young girl at heart. She wanted to have fun too.
"Next time. I'll take you next time."
"You said it!"
Hu Tao was delighted after receiving Li Yue's promise.
"Speaking of which, where are Zhongli and Nahida? Did they go out for tea again?"
"That's right. Zhongli left early this morning, but this time he wasn't going for tea. I heard some foreigner invited him to dinner."
"And ever since you brought Nahida back, Zhongli always has an excuse. He still hasn't delivered the cemetery I asked him to deliver before. Every time I want to lecture him, he uses Nahida as a shield, so I can't lecture him at all. Now some foreigner has come looking for him, so I have even less time to lecture him. Sigh~~~"
Hu Tao helplessly spread her small hands and let out a helpless sigh.
"Hm?"
Li Yue's eyes lit up at Hu Tao's words.
"A foreigner invited him to dinner? Where?"
"What? You want to go eat too?"
Hu Tao looked at Li Yue suspiciously.
"No, I mainly want to see what foreigners are like. So far, I've only met people from Sumeru and Mondstadt in Teyvat. I wonder what people from other nations look like."
"What else could they look like? Don't they all have two eyes, one nose, and one mouth?"
No, no, no, my adorable Hu Tao. The Rite of Descension was only a few days away. The foreigner coming to see Zhongli now was no ordinary foreigner. He was a Toy Salesman who loved this land of Liyue deeply!
From temporarily leaving the Eastern Capital to forever leaving the Eastern Capital! His love for this land ran deep!
Just kidding. He did return to Snezhnaya in the middle, but only to attend a banquet.
"Just tell me where they are."
"Mm, they should be at either Liuli Pavilion or Xinyue Xuan. Anyway, Zhongli said that foreigner is pretty rich."
"Alright, alright, I'll go take a look too."
"You're really going?!"
Hu Tao looked at Li Yue in surprise.
"Yeah. I still haven't eaten today. This is the perfect time to mooch a meal."
"Fine, then go ahead. I still have things to do, so I won't go."
Hu Tao waved at Li Yue, indicating that he could go by himself. Li Yue did not waste any time and headed straight out of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.
Xinyue Xuan and Liuli Pavilion were not far from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. After walking for a few minutes, Li Yue arrived. He told the staff at each entrance that he was looking for someone, then found Zhongli and the foreigner hosting the meal inside Xinyue Xuan.
However, unlike what Li Yue had expected, Zhongli and the foreigner were not the only ones eating here. Nahida and Venti were there as well.
"Hm? Isn't this Li Yue? You're back?"
Venti immediately greeted Li Yue when he saw him.
"Why are you here too?"
Li Yue reflexively asked in return.
"What do you mean, why am I here too? My friend, am I not allowed to be here?"
Venti looked utterly aggrieved.
"Didn't you say a foreigner invited Zhongli to dinner? Did the foreigner invite you too?"
Li Yue looked at Zhongli curiously, his gaze carrying a question.
Zhongli explained somewhat helplessly.
"Mr. Tartaglia from Snezhnaya did indeed invite me to dinner. However, we happened to encounter this bard from Mondstadt on the way. At the time, this bard said he was your friend, Li Yue, and that he knew Nahida as well. Nahida also confirmed that she knew him, so we simply invited him along."
From Zhongli's expression, Li Yue could see his reluctance. He truly did not want Venti tagging along, but Venti had brought up his connection to Li Yue, and Nahida had directly admitted that she knew him rather than denying it. Besides, Tartaglia beside them was curious about Li Yue, so they simply let Venti come along.
"That's right. We just sat down and haven't started eating yet. Li Yue, your timing is perfect."
Venti happily explained as well.
Since the host himself said he did not mind, Zhongli naturally could not say anything more. Thus came the scene of the three of them dining with Tartaglia. What was a grand occasion? This was a grand occasion! Tartaglia would probably never experience anything grander in his life.
That was right. The one treating them was that Snezhnayan man who loved Liyue deeply! Childe Tartaglia!
"Tartaglia?"
Li Yue put on a puzzled expression and looked at the only unfamiliar face present.
"You must be the Liyue Adepti, Venerable Adeptus Li Yue, who defeated Dvalin in Mondstadt!"
"Venerable Adeptus Li Yue?"
Li Yue's head tilted back slightly. Since when had he gained that title?
"That's right. Venerable Adeptus Li Yue of Liyue defeated Dvalin, who had plagued Mondstadt, allowing the East Wind Dragon to once again become Mondstadt's guardian deity. This news was officially announced by the Knights of Favonius in Mondstadt. Even I, far away in Snezhnaya, have already heard of it."
Good grief, how did I not know about this? Was it because I barely read any official announcements while I was in Mondstadt?
To be honest, Li Yue was a little confused. He had not expected Amber's misunderstanding to turn him into an Adepti.
"I originally thought Adepti Li Yue would be a mature middle-aged Adepti. I never expected you to be so young!"
Clearly, Childe only knew the report saying Li Yue was an Adepti, not what Li Yue looked like.
"Wait, what did you say your name was?"
"Right, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Tartaglia, and I come from Snezhnaya—"
Since they had only just sat down, Tartaglia had not had time to reveal his identity, but Li Yue did not intend to give him that chance.
"Tartaglia? I know you!"
"Hm?"
Li Yue's words left Tartaglia somewhat confused.
"You know me?"
"That's right. Because of my abilities, I once had the good fortune to visit Snezhnaya. There, I met a child, and I learned about you, Tartaglia, from him."
"A child?"
Childe was puzzled, but then he felt that something was wrong!
"Ah, that child said his older brother, Tartaglia, was Snezhnaya's best Toy Salesman! He was talking about you, right?"
"Toys?"
Venti looked at Childe.
"Salesman?"
Nahida looked at Childe too.
"..."
Zhongli also looked at Childe.
The smile on Childe's face froze.
Li Yue then turned to Zhongli.
"So, is Wangsheng Funeral Parlor going to start cooperating with Snezhnaya and launch a toy sales business now?"
"..."
Dada Duck, Liyue People Don't Lie to Liyue People
"Although I only met him once, that child was named Toco, right? I didn't remember wrong, did I?"
"Yes, his name is Toco."
"He also said that your best-selling toy was called Primo Geovishap. That should be the name, right?"
"Uh... Yes, that is the name."
"See? My memory is pretty good. I only heard those names once, but I remembered them all!"
"Hehehe."
At the table, the original four people had become five. Li Yue sat beside Tartaglia, patting him on the shoulder as he chatted away. Yet the smile on Tartaglia's face remained extremely forced.
Following the Tsaritsa's orders, he had come to Liyue to plot for Morax's Gnosis. Honestly, when he received that order, he had been dumbfounded. Even in Snezhnaya, he knew the great name of Vago Monarch Morax. He was the oldest God of War. She wanted him to obtain the other party's Gnosis, and without the assistance of any fellow Harbingers at that. Your Majesty the Tsaritsa, were you serious?
But the Tsaritsa's orders had to be carried out! Tartaglia resolutely set foot upon Liyue's land.
Following the Tsaritsa's instructions, he was to find a man named Zhongli, who would provide assistance.
As expected of the Tsaritsa. She had long since understood Liyue inside and out!
Although the Tsaritsa had given him much help, Tartaglia still conducted his own investigation. As a Fatui Harbinger, he knew how to handle this much investigation.
Then he received news that Liyue's Venerable Adeptus Li Yue had helped Mondstadt resolve the Dvalin disaster and had recently returned to Liyue.
Everyone in Teyvat knew that Liyue had Adepti, and Vago Monarch was even said to be the ancestor of all Adepti. Yet most people knew little about them. Now that an Adepti had appeared so openly, Tartaglia was extremely interested.
As someone who constantly grew stronger through battle, Tartaglia longed to fight the legendary Adepti!
However, the current situation seemed a little off.
"Dada Duck, let me tell you something. If you want to cooperate with Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, looking for Zhongli is useless. You should look for me or Director Hu. Zhongli is like a stone. If you expect him to do business with you, you'll lose yourself to death!"
Li Yue draped an arm around Tartaglia's shoulders, pointed at Zhongli, and offered his advice.
"Huh? My name is Tartaglia, not Dada Duck. And I heard Mr. Zhongli is very knowledgeable, so that's why..."
Hearing Li Yue's words, Tartaglia could not help defending Zhongli. After all, this was the person the Tsaritsa had told him to contact.
"No, no, no. You can't be fooled by appearances. Zhongli does have some knowledge in his head, but he has no concept of money. If you work with him, you'll suffer losses, understand?"
Li Yue earnestly advised Tartaglia. He was genuinely worried about this foolishly honest Snezhnayan man. Did he know that, through the entire process, he was the only one being deceived? Even his fellow Harbingers had deceived him together, then Blondie had beaten him badly. In the end, his colleague ran off with the goods while he was wanted by Liyue and had no choice but to flee far away. Scammed out of money and feelings alike, he was pitiful beyond measure.
"Trust me. I'm a Liyue Adepti, after all. Could a Liyue Adepti possibly lie to you? Liyue people don't lie to Liyue people!"
When Li Yue mentioned his Adepti identity, Tartaglia became conflicted for a moment. If he was an Adepti, then what he said should be true, right? But Zhongli was indeed the person the Tsaritsa had told him to contact.
Surely Zhongli would not dare deceive the Tsaritsa? Besides...
"But I'm from Snezhnaya!"
Before you continue